How This Astronaut Is Making History

This Amazing Woman Will Be The First Black Astronaut To Board The International Space Station

This astronaut is bringing some #BlackGirlMagic to space, and we couldn't be more excited.

On Wednesday, NASA announced that Jeanette Epps will be the first African-American astronaut to board the International Space Station. According to a press release, Epps and veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel will arrive to the station in May 2018. She will be the flight engineer for Expedition 56 and will stay on board for Expedition 57.

A native from Syracuse, New York, Epps has a PhD in aerospace engineering and was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow. On top of that, Epps was recruited by the CIA and spent seven years as a technical intelligence officer before becoming an astronaut in 2009. In other words, not only is she making history, but she's also incredibly badass.

Epps is one of more than 200 astronauts who have worked on the ISS since November 2000.

"Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer," Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, said in a statement. "The space station will benefit from having them on board."